This invention generally relates to garage doors. More particularly the present invention relates to a garage door particularly adapted for residential houses which opens and closes horizontally, instead of vertically.
Many residences have a garage, and thus a garage door. Garages are particularly designed for storing vehicles in an environment which is not exposed to weather and dust. Garages have also evolved into a place for storing items, such as bicycles, exercise equipment, boxes of memorabilia or infrequently used items, etc.
Garages are sized so as to accommodate as few as one vehicle to many vehicles. Garages include retractable doors, such that the garage can be opened for the vehicle can enter and subsequently closed. In the past, such doors were manually opened and closed. Thus, the garage door was often a single wooden door which was pivoted upwardly and downwardly to open and close the garage to expose the vehicle entrance. However, it is more common currently that the garage door be opened and closed automatically, such as by using motors connected to drive trains or rods which can be selectively moved or rotated in opposite directions to open and close the garage doors. Typically, the garage door will run on tracks which extend from opposite sides of the garage vehicle entrance towards the ceiling of the garage. The garage door opener is positioned within the garage towards the ceiling so as to pull the garage door upwardly towards the ceiling on its track as it is opened, and subsequently move the garage door downwardly and into the vehicle entrance to close the garage. Such garage doors are typically comprised of a plurality of horizontally pivotally connected panels to facilitate this vertical movement.
However, several problems are presented with the current design of garage doors. Even with a two-door garage door, the entire garage door must be completely opened in order to allow even a single vehicle to enter or exit the garage. Completely opening the garage exposes the entire garage to view from the street and neighboring houses. This can be undesirable if the garage is untidy or contains items of interest that might be possibly stolen. As such, some homeowners will actually partially open the garage door and stop it in its opening progress so that sufficient room between the driveway and the bottom edge of the garage door is provided so that the homeowner can bend over and enter or exit the garage. Aside from this inconvenience, there is a safety concern that the garage door could be inadvertently closed while entering or exiting the garage, possibly injuring the individual.
Another disadvantage of currently designed garage doors is that the motor and track are disposed above the garage door towards the ceiling, often wasting a tremendous amount of space as they are hung from the ceiling immediately above the garage door. These components are also unsightly when the garage door is open.
As the garage doors are currently lifted vertically, they must be comprised of a relatively light-weight material so as to be suspended from the track and the ceiling. Such material can often be bent or otherwise broken to access the garage. Also, it is a common problem that garage doors are lifted upwardly to gain access to the garage by would-be thieves and the like.
Doors which close horizontally, as opposed to vertically, are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,514,140 to Dodge discloses a door construction in the form of accordion-style folding partitions which fold in order to open the door, and are unfolded and extended outwardly across the doorway to close the door. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,597 to Green discloses a garage door apparatus having upper and lower tracks and a plurality of panels vertically oriented and pivotally interconnected with one another such that the panels are moved along the tracks to open and close the door in a horizontal, as opposed to a vertical, movement.
However, it has been discovered by the inventor that garage floors are typically not flat. For example, it has been found that there is a several inch rise in elevation between the garage door opening and the door leading into the residence. This may be due to building code requirements, wherein water would be shunted and directed away from the residence, such as if the water heater were to leak. While this does not present a problem to the accordion folding partition-style door of Dodge, it does present drawbacks to the Green arrangement. This is due to the fact that the partition doors, as they are opened, travel up the slope of the garage floor. This can cause binding, or prevent the smooth movement of the panels, as the panels are moved to a fully opened position within the garage.
It has also been discovered that positioning the wheels or rollers, which are engaged with the upper and lower tracks, intermediate the edges of the panels, such as approximately in the middle of the panels, also create binding and prevents smooth movement of the panels as the panels are moved between open and closed positions, and particularly at the bends of the upper and lower tracks as they transition between the garage door opening and the interior of the garage.
Furthermore, the presence of a lower track within the garage, and particularly adjacent to the opening of the garage, may present a hazard to those traversing the lower track, such as women wearing high heels and the like. Also, debris, such as leaves, rocks and the like, can become lodged within the lower track, preventing smooth operation of the garage door.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a garage door apparatus which is not vertically opened and closed, but rather horizontally opened and closed to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages. Also, improvements are needed for such a horizontally opening garage door to overcome the deficiencies noted above. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.